Mr. Graeper’ Testimony: “My Life as a Teacher”

13 March 2008

One of the UMC’s routine activities is Moment of truth or MOT as commonly abbreviated. The meeting regularly held on Thursdays aims at strengthening fellowship among staffs and lecturers of Ma Chung University.  On March 13th, 2008 present among the audiences in the MOT program was Mr. Jacobus Gerardus Graeper from the University of Groningen, Holland.  

 

One of the UMC’s routine activities is Moment of truth or MOT as commonly abbreviated. The meeting regularly held on Thursdays aims at strengthening fellowship among staffs and lecturers of Ma Chung University.  On March 13th, 2008 present among the audiences in the MOT program was Mr. Jacobus Gerardus Graeper from the University of Groningen, Holland.  
In this program Koos, his nickname, began the presentation with self introduction. Born in Amsterdam, he felt that he had particular emotional ties with the city. “One of the things that I hardly forget is about my past experience in this city long time ago. It was completely such a difficult time because of the war. It was almost impossible for us to get some food to eat. When I was small I cried a lot because of hunger. To my surprise, German soldier who used to be an enemy approached me and gave me a loaf of bread with delicious cheese inside,” Koos said.     
 Despite his retirement from the University of Groningen, he still has many activities to do both as a guest lecturer and as a researcher. Nevertheless, all of these programs certainly do not keep him from being close with his family. Now he already has 4 grandchildren.
“Teaching paradigm has already changed.  Learning is no longer seen from the teacher who controls everything in the classroom. But we have to put the student’s needs into consideration. The role of the teacher is to facilitate and make the learning process possible in the classroom interactions so that students can grasp and internalize knowledge and skills to be their own,” Mr. Graeper confirmed.
Mr. Jacobus Graeper admitted that he had deep impression about UMC. “I feel that UMC, although it is still young, has strong vision in facing the coming years. One of the obvious evidences can be seen from the availability of good and modern facilities in University of Ma Chung. “I believe that Dutch students will be jealous if they know a luxurious facility like the theater room in UMC,” he said. (DG)